“I rang another couple of the lads and they were saying that they weren’t sure so I rang the [bus] garage.

“The inspector told me there was no joking around, that we were millionaires. I couldn’t hold it in then, I was jumping around - it was brilliant.”

The Dublin Bus workers have been part of several syndicates over the years, but this particular group have been playing last week’s winning numbers 1, 2, 10, 11, 13, 40 and 50 since 2013, when the combination first came up in a quickpick ticket.

While all 22 of the workers, aged from 36 to 63, are now millionaires, Finglas native David said none of the syndicate have plans to pack in their day job.

“As far as I know we’re all going back to work,” he said.

When asked what Mr Doherty was going to splash his cash on, the granddad responded: “Maybe a new car. And anyone who knows me and my wife knows we travel a lot and now we’ll see a lot more of it.

The red carpet was rolled out at Lotto HQ for the new millionaires and their families (Image: Collins Photo Agency)

“I have a trip to Cuba booked already so we’ll see what happens after that.”

Among the winners was also 63-year-old Mayo native John Brady, who has been working as a driver for Dublin Bus for over 40 years.

The dad-of-four explained that all but one of the winning group are still working with the organisation. “We’re all still working except for one of the lads who retired last January. He paid up until November so he was lucky,” John said.

Mr Brady also explained that the group pay €10 towards their syndicate every five weeks.

While they have won small amounts of cash before, this is the first time they will cash in the winnings.

“This is the first money we’ve taken from the syndicate. At Christmas time there was a bereavement in the family of one of the members, so we pooled some money among ourselves and gave it to them as a donation,” John said.

“But this is the first money we’ll have for ourselves.”

The veteran bus driver also thanked his employer as he collected the winnings.

“We couldn’t praise the management of Dublin Bus more. They’ve looked after us for the past few days and I want to thank them for giving me a good career,” John said.

The €24 million cash pot isn’t the only Euromillions jackpot to be snapped up by an Irish syndicate this year.

In January, a group of friends and family bagged €66 million, sharing the €132 million winnings with another ticketholder in France.

Jenny Fisher from the National Lottery commented: “It’s extraordinary. We’ve had 550 millionaires made in the National Lottery since we started so to get 22 in one day is something special.

“It’s something everyone has got behind. Even in the office there has been a huge amount of excitement.

“While we were preparing for their arrival today people were stopping in the street to have a look.

She continued: “I haven’t heard of a syndicate of more than 22. We had a family syndicate who won the Euromillions at the beginning of the year so the luck of the Irish is holding out - we’re punching above our weight.

“Winning the Euromillions jackpot twice in one year and our country only accounts for 2% of the population so it’s fantastic.”